Decreased activation and increased lateralization in brain functioning for selective attention and response inhibition in adolescents with spina bifida

Abstract

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate functional activity in the brain of adolescents with spina bifida when performing selective attention and response inhibition tasks. We then compared the results to that of age-matched controls. Our results showed that adolescents with spina bifida had decreased frontal and superior parietal activation and more apparently low involvement of left brain hemisphere during these tasks. Our results indicated activation deficits and possibly abnormal functional organization in adolescents with spina bifida and associated pathologies such as hydrocephalus.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• Functional MRI
• Spina bifida
• Selective attention
• Response inhibition
• Brain activation
• Cognitive function
• Executive function

Acknowledgments

This research was supported, in part, by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine Children's University Medical Group Fund Grant Program through the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute. We wish to thank John Gregan for valuable assistance in the review of this manuscript on behalf of the Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute.